Gold futures inched higher to start the new trading week on Monday, snapping a seven-session losing streak to hang just above a three-month low. Silver, meanwhile, extended its losses to six straight sessions and closed at an eight-week low.
Gold for December delivery edged up 40 cents to $1,088.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"There is not a whole lot to read into in the gold market right now as the primary, and only, notable influence on the precious-metals market is [Federal Reserve] policy speculation," said analysts for The 7:00’s Report according to MarketWatch. "As the hawkish drumbeat gets louder, the outlook for gold gets more and more bearish for the medium term."
The precious metal ranged from a low of $1,087.40 to a high of $1,094.90. Gold prices plunged last week by 4.7%, their third straight weekly decline. They settled Friday at their lowest level since Aug. 5.
Silver for December delivery declined 28 cents, or 1.9%, to close at $14.41 an ounce. The settlement was the lowest since Sept. 15 when prices ended at $14.33 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $14.40 to $14.76. They plummeted 5.6% last week.
In other precious metals futures on Monday:
-
January platinum fell $25.60, or 2.7%, to $914.40 an ounce, trading between $910.30 and $943.20.
- Palladium for December delivery declined $16, or 2.6%, to settle at $596.95 an ounce, ranging from $595 to $621.20.
Last week, platinum lost 5% and palladium dived 9.5%.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices were divided. In comparing their prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold added 70 cents to $1,089.60 an ounce.
- Silver lost 30 cents, or 2%, to $14.78 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
London bullion prices last week logged declines of 4.7% for both gold and silver, 5% for platinum and 10.5% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in October
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:23 p.m. ET. Earlier Monday, the U.S. Mint announced a weekly Silver Eagle allocation of 1.1 million coins. The agency has restricted sales of bullion American Silver Eagles since temporarily running out of them in early July.
Below is a listing of U.S. Mint bullion products with the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week / November | Oct Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,500 | 26,000 | 550,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 67,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 148,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 30,000 | 50,000 | 910,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,500 | 10,500 | 185,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 1,079,500 | 3,788,000 | 40,922,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | Sold Out | 35,000 | ||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 42,000 | |||
| 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 45,000 | |||
| 2015 Bombay Hook 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 45,000 | |||
